General Manager/CEO -- Denver RTD

Denver Regional Transportation District

Chief Executive Officer/General Manager

 ABOUT RTD:

The Denver metropolitan area and the State of Colorado are world-renowned destinations for recreation, sports and culture.  The entire region is welcoming, diverse and offers fantastic places to live and raise a family with some of the best public schools, colleges and universities that the nation has to offer. Whether enjoying restaurants and breweries, taking in iconic scenery, or experiencing culture and history, the surrounding region is an excellent place to live and work.

 The Regional Transportation District (RTD) is the region’s public transit agency created in 1969 by the Colorado General Assembly, connecting Denver residents through an affordable, safe, clean, reliable, accessible, and customer friendly community-oriented transportation network. As a nationally recognized leader, RTD provides public transit services, including rail, bus, access, and shuttle services across 2,400 square miles to 40 municipalities (3.1 million people) within eight counties including Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Jefferson and parts of Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas and Weld Counties. RTD is governed by a 15-member, publicly elected Board of Directors each serving a four-year term.

 The region prides itself on innovation, inclusion, multi-culturalism, diversity, and environmental sustainability and RTD’s vision is further enhance the region’s quality of life as well as to augment the pattern of urban development throughout the region. RTD continues to develop dynamic programs to benefit both business and the community it serves, making RTD an important cornerstone for the Denver community.

 In 2004, RTD embarked upon the nation’s largest public transportation capital expansion program. RTD has been steadily working on its commitment to deliver on this voter-approved program, known as FasTracks. While, circumstances have changed and budgets have been stressed with economic events occurring such as the 2008 recession, in 2019, RTD embarked upon a two-year “Reimagine RTD” effort. Even with this effort underway, uncertainties still exist with COVID-19 and other unforeseen factors arising.

 As such, RTD is continuously listening to its communities’ needs and striving to find necessary funding and cost savings that will support creative transit solutions in order to uphold its commitment to provide safe, timely, affordable, convenient, accessible and equitable transit solutions to the entire region. By reimaging transit and creating a new vision, RTD is committed to supporting the economic engine that the greater Denver region has become while also being a key partner in social, economic, environmental, and sustainable development programs.

More details about RTD can be obtained by visiting the Agency’s website at www.rtd-denver.com.

SCOPE AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The General Manager/Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) is responsible for implementing policy set by the Board by overseeing and directing the daily operations of RTD’s services. This executive must represent RTD as its chief executive to the public by listening to their needs and working with the Board to guide RTD in providing solutions that meet the needs of RTD’s stakeholders.

The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of successfully managing a large, complex, and diverse organization that operates to provide the highest quality of service to its customers. Additionally, this individual will have strong financial management, strategic planning, public relations, community relations, and governmental relations skills.

Given the uncertain economic future with the COVID 19 pandemic and RTD’s current financial liabilities, a background and understanding of government finance will be a major asset. Flexibility and an ability to identify creative funding solutions will be essential to ensure that RTD is able to provide the highest quality of service to its customers while delivering on its past commitments.

RTD’s employees and its Board of Directors are dedicated to working together to ensure that the District continues to operate as one of the leading transit systems in the United States. As such, the new CEO will be integral to the continued success of RTD and the region as it strives to provide the highest quality of service possible to its customers and stakeholders.

RTD’s CEO will have a demonstrated a background and ability as grouped in the following areas:

GENERAL TRANSIT MANAGEMENT

• Manage a multi-modal, complex customer-centric, taxpayer-financed organization with an emphasis on safety, security, cost competitiveness, equity, and on-time performance.

• Oversee large and complex budgets and offer creative solutions to close budget gaps and shortfalls.

• Identify and/or create new sustainable revenue streams for daily operations and future capital programs through various financing options including public private partnerships.

• Optimize the utilization of RTD’s resources and revenues and identify areas of cost reduction and increased efficiencies and communicate recommendations to the Board.

• Proven leadership skills which include being:
  • A unifier, integrator, and team builder,
  • A problem solver and visionary,
  • A mentor and motivator, and
  • A creator of productive partnerships with appropriate parties.

• Promote and develop innovate and equitable solutions to first- and last-mile challenges.

• Oversee an asset management program for RTD’s aging fleet of vehicles and infrastructure.  

• Oversee a strong, positive and effective marketing and public outreach program that promotes RTD.

• Demonstrate a digital fluency that will help to ensure a more efficient and equitable organization.

• Foster, instill, promote and maintain a culture that embraces diversity, multi-culturalism, inclusion, equity, and equality at all levels of the organization.

INTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS

• Establish and maintain healthy working relationships and treat all employees (represented and non-represented) fairly and foster an open, collaborative, positive, professional, and safe work environment.

• Encourage, empower, and challenge the executive management team and their departments to think “outside the box” and offer customer-centric solutions that are innovative, effective, efficient and properly respond to customer needs.

• Provide leadership to encourage employees to take initiative and develop within the organization.

• Take action to advance the goals of RTD’s Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Plans, and ADA Plans thereby ensuring RTD’s hiring programs and work environment is fair, equal, and non-discriminatory.

EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS

• Meet with regularly, listen carefully and respond appropriately to all RTD. 

• Build partnerships and work effectively and persuasively with elected officials, local, state, and federal agencies, the business community, organized labor, faith-based community, disabled community, public constituencies, NGOs, education and health leaders, the press, and other stakeholders.

• Implement solutions that strive to meet the needs and expectations of various stakeholders even when those needs may be in conflict.

• Build strong collaborative partnerships with the Governor and Colorado General Assembly.

BOARD INTERACTION

• Develop a strong working relationship with RTD’s 15-member elected Board of Directors, including maintaining effective two-way communication.

• Assist and advise the Board of Directors in its policy and planning responsibilities to help generate short- and long-term transit objectives and keep Directors abreast of progress in implementing these objectives.

• Implement Board policy via actionable management plans and provide strategic direction to senior management that will enable the effective execution of these plans.

• Engage, collaborate, and partner with Board members to advocate on behalf of RTD with elected officials at local, state, and national levels to ensure that RTD continues to demonstrate its commitment to quality service, increased mobility, regional economic growth, and sustainable development.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES:

• Highly professional, mature, honest, trusting, and personable individual.

• Excellent interpersonal, communication, presentation and writing skills.

• Executive presence to stand on behalf of RTD as its leader and champion.

• High energy level, sense of urgency, with maturity, integrity, and ethics above reproach.

• Intelligent, persuasive, creative, visionary strength to solve complex problems.

• Strong financial management skills.

• Ability to “think outside the box” and adapt to address the new problems generated by the COVID19 pandemic or other economic cycles that may arise.

• Strategic manager and leader with excellent team building, problem solving, and conflict resolution skills.

• Executive leader who embraces diversity, equity, equality, multi-culturalism and inclusion.

• Verifiable track record of developing and maintaining strong relationships with customers, elected officials and other stakeholders.

• Demonstrated ability to unify Boards, teams, communities, and people during complicated and uncertain times.

• Proven ability to leverage technology, improve customer service, increase operational efficiencies, achieve bottom-line results, and reduce waste.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

The successful candidate will have a minimum of ten (10) years executive management experience with a transit agency or another public or private entity of significant complexity and size. A Bachelor’s degree is highly desired and preference will be given to a degree in transportation, transportation management, engineering, government relations, planning, urban studies, organizational development, general business management or equivalent fields. An advanced degree such as an MPA or MBA is beneficial. An equivalent combination of education and experience consistent with the required qualifications will also be considered.

For additional information or to submit a resume, please contact Gregg Moser at gmoser@kapartners.com